Amid widespread student strikes in Santiago, students participating in this semester's Tufts-in-Chile program have been able to take classes at Chilean universities and are scheduled to complete the program on time.
Demanding education reforms, university and high-school students have been on strike since early August, causing several Chilean universities to postpone classes.
Tufts students abroad in Chile during the fall semester, which begins in mid-July, normally take most of their classes at the University of Chile along with a Spanish language class at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, according to Associate Dean of Programs Abroad Sheila Bayne.
Many departments of the University of Chile have been on strike since the end of May and have not been offering classes, forcing Tufts students to take more of their classes at Catholic University, Tufts-in-Chile Resident Director Carmen Gloria Guiñez said in an email to the Daily.
Chilean university students often go on strike during the semester that begins in March, when the university budgets are decided and scholarship levels are determined, according to Professor of History Peter Winn, the faculty advisor for the Tufts-in-Chile program. But the strike, which surpassed typical student issues such as interest rates on loans, has lasted longer than most, he said.
"What was different was that in addition to articulating student demands, students began articulating a much larger reform agenda," Winn said, adding that students were protesting the privatization of education and prevalence of for-profit universities. "Put all of that together you have an explanation for as to why this has been so difficult to resolve."
Two of the departments at the University of Chile, which operate with some autonomy within the university, resumed a few classes for the benefit of study abroad students, according to Guiñez.
"In order to meet foreign students' academic needs, [the] School of Government offered 4 of the most demanded courses and Faculty of Art did the same," Guiñez said. "However, those courses consisted mainly of foreign exchange students."
In response to the lack of available classes at the University of Chile, the Tufts-in-Chile program was forced to make structural changes in order for students to complete the necessary credits, Bayne said.
Guiñez met with the Catholic University's vice chancellor in August to discuss contingency plans and the availability of classes at the university, whose students were also on strike at the time, Guiñez said.
"At that meeting, he assured us that foreign students would end the semester at the original scheduled date and with all the classes completed, regardless [of] the strike, which, according to him, wouldn't last more than 2 weeks," Guiñez said. "In fact, the [Catholic University] students' strike ended in about two weeks."
In August, Tufts students were allowed to register for additional classes at the Catholic University, Bayne and Guiñez said.
"I wrote to students and parents that the program will continue but those that wished to return could still do so," Bayne said, adding that one student chose to return to Tufts.
The duration and solidarity shown during the student strikes is a product of the students' emphasis on societal issues such as inequality, according to Winn. For the first time, the heads of universities and high school students are joining the university student strikes, he said.
"The educational system is supposed to be a solution," he said. "It should lead to social mobility, but in fact, what has happened in Chile is that the educational system reproduces inequality instead of solving inequality."
Winn emphasized the unique opportunity for students this semester to learn about Chile in a non-traditional way outside of the classroom.
"Two-thirds of the country supports the students," he said. "There is [an] unprecedented type of unity among the student movement and society as a whole."
Bayne echoed Winn's sentiment regarding the current situation's educational impact for students on the program.
"I think this will be an absolutely unforgettable experience for these students," she said. "They're turning it into a learning opportunity."
Junior Hailey Alm, who is currently on the Tufts-in-Chile program, was amazed by the scale and solidarity of the Chilean students on strike.
"I've never seen any kind of huge social movement in the U.S.," she said in an email. "Seeing how active these students are has been really surprising and impressive. Especially because it's not just university kids, but also a lot of high school students."
Junior Rachel Ganz, who is also on the program, has been impressed by the students' courage and the overwhelming presence of the strikes.
"No one is afraid of the police or what could happen," she said in an email. "People of all ages are present to support the movement."
